Blog Posts

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

10/4/2018

What is it about food that brings people together? Being able to make a dish and share it with the ones you love goes back to the very beginnings of tradition, and it truly represents a special bond. There’s nothing quite like making a recipe that’s been passed down through generations, eating the same foods our great grandparents used to, and making new memories along the way. Yes, there’s definitely something special about coming together to create and share a meal that carries a legacy with it.

Here at the Anthony Bates Foundation, we also cherish the bonding experience that comes from making and sharing a meal. 11 years ago, we decided to reach out to our community and create a cookbook of our own. Tastes of Heaven was truly a labor of love from all of our wonderful families and friends. We gathered all types of recipes and even included some of Anthony’s favorites (Corn Casserole was a major standout!).

Whenever we share our family recipes, we share a little bit of our own story and the people in it. We have the chance to remember those that may no longer be with us while we create new memories of our own. It’s because of this that we are pleased to share with you Tastes of Heaven Volume 2. With nearly twice as many recipes, you’ve got double the opportunity to set aside some time to prepare great meals to share with family and friends. I’ve personally tried a couple recipes and you will not be disappointed. Easy Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Sauce was (courtesy of Cindy Baker. a longtime friend & ultrasound volunteer) and the Gluten Free Melting Moments (courtesy of Pat Paxton, a longtime friend) are the ideal treats for an office potluck. The Cook-Top Cove: Ground Beef Stroganoff in the Slow Cooker (courtesy of Laura Martin, ABF volunteer) is a perfect fast-and-easy weeknight meal that is sure to keep the whole family satisfied. With over 275 recipes, there’s a little bit of something for everyone, and it's the perfect secret weapon with the holiday season fast approaching!

Think about all the important people in your life, family and friends, past and present, with which you’ve shared meals, and the happiness, joy, love, and memories surrounding them. Rekindle those memories and make new ones today by visiting our website. You can order your copy of Tastes of Heaven Volume 2 NOW! And while you’re at it, why not pick up 4 extra copies (and get 2 FREE) to make perfect holiday gifts “from the heart”. All proceeds will help us with our continuing mission to “screen more hearts and save more lives”. With every heart screened, we get to expand our community, share our purpose and develop connections with one another. And it should come as no surprise: we always bring the food!

Now, that’s “food for thought!”

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Reconnecting to Save Lives!

9/25/2018

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This past weekend we hosted a heart screening event with our friends over at Chandler MMA. On average we try to have 2-3 screenings per month, but this one was extra special because it all happened by chance encounter.

It’s not unusual for us to repeat screenings at local schools and doctors’ offices, but this was actually our second screening event with Master Paul McGowan of Chandler MMA. We did our first screening with Master McGowan at the Polar Ice Complex back in 2007. We had a turnout of 139 people and found nearly 10% of participants had some sort of abnormality that needed further review from a cardiologist. Overall it was a fantastic event, and Master McGowan was amazingly supportive of our mission. Sadly, we lost touch with him over the years.

Fast forward to Summer 2018: We’re gearing up for a full season of heart screenings and determined to get more people to attend. We’ve made community outreach a huge priority in an effort to share our story and screen more hearts. By chance, Chandler MMA just happened to show up on our list of outreach for the day and we were so glad it did! Master McGowan responded to us enthusiastically and immediately wanted to host another event of his own. Master McGowan is an incredibly athletic guy, and he values his health. He’s continued to praise and support our mission, calling it an essential tool for peace of mind for any athlete or child. He’s undoubtedly passed this sentiment onto his students too.

Of course, we were happy to host another screening with Master McGowan. All totaled we screened over 50 hearts, and while we are still waiting on those results, we couldn’t be more satisfied with the outcome. We recruited volunteers from his employees, student body, even his family and put them to work at our blood pressure table, ECG/EKG stations and data entry. This event could not have been what it was without Master McGowan, his dojo, and the great community surrounding us.

Community has been and will continue to be the main driver of our success. There’s nothing we like to hear more than our friends and donors sharing our message among communities of their own. That’s how we find people like Master McGowan, who so strongly support our mission that they become evangelists themselves. If you’re reading this, we encourage you to think of friends, families and colleagues that could be in need of our services. The good news is, if you have a heart, you’re qualified to get screened! And there’s no cost too great for peace of mind.

Be sure to check out our upcoming screenings on the events page!

Don’t see one that works for you? Give us a call!
Never had a screening? Give us a call!
Haven't had a screening in the last 2 years? Give us a call!
Want to make a difference? Give us a call!

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Can the new Apple Watch save your life?

9/19/2018

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Apple just announced its newest addition to the Apple Watch family: the Series 4. While it boasts a lot of new features like, like enhanced work out detection and larger screen, but can you guess what we’re most excited about? The new Apple Watch can take ECG readings and mail them directly to your doctor. Later iterations will even provide notifications for irregular heart rhythms. But is this enough to help in the fight against sudden cardiac arrest?

The ECG was invented in the late 1800s. It’s the machine that displays the squiggly lines, and always flatlines in TV dramas. It is used to detect abnormal heart rhythms and diagnose electrical conditions and heart attacks. It is also a good indicator for certain structural conditions. It is a very useful piece of equipment, but not all ECGs are created equal.

Most ECGs found in a doctor’s office or hospitals have 12 leads and allow you to conduct a reading at multiple points throughout the body. The Apple Watch is a one lead ECG so it monitors the heart rhythm from one spot on the body. This technology shows lots of promise, but it does not collect enough detail to diagnose heart conditions . . . yet.

Why does this matter? Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death of adults in the United States. It is the #1 cause of death of student athletes and takes the lives of thousands of children every year. Eighteen years ago, my son, Anthony, became one of those statistics. The Anthony Bates Foundation was created to raise awareness about heart disease and sudden cardiac arrest in children as well as create a heart screening program accessible to students and families. Let me offer this real-life scenario to illustrate my point.

Sam is thirteen. He complains that his heart races. It is hard to know what this really means because Sam is the only one who feels his symptoms. Does Sam consume too much caffeine? Is he an anxious kid? Does he have a heart condition?

Sam comes to one of our screening days in the fall 2014. After getting an ECG (12 lead), he is diagnosed with Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome - an electrical condition the can often lead to sudden cardia arrest. It is possible that the new Apple Watch would have recorded his racing heart. This would’ve provided his parents and doctor with clues about his complaints. It could have led to further testing, the 12 lead ECG, to diagnose his condition. In other words, the watch could have taken the ambiguity out of Sam’s description.

Following his diagnosis, Sam underwent a medical procedure called an ablation (right after my son’s 14th AngelDay. Coincidence?). Now, Sam is completely healthy and doing well in high school and in the band.

We should celebrate this new advancement for what it is. It brings affordable medical technology into our homes. It empowers consumers with valuable information. It raises awareness about heart health. It will give our children insight into how hard their heart works every day. It will help them understand how their heart behaves in certain situations. There’s no doubt that this will lead to a better quality of life.

In the meantime, get your child’s heart screened. Check Out our heart screening calendar on AZ & KS. And our friends at Simon's Heart have a national list, too! Check Out their list! A heart screening could save a child's life. Like Sam & many others!

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Bill Snyder - "They Said It Couldn't Be Done..."

1/30/2018

It was the last week of July, 2000, when Anthony Bates, a Wildcat defensive tackle called his mom, Sharon, at her home in Phoenix, Arizona. During small talk, he complained of being out of shape, suggesting that maybe too much soda during the summer was taking its toll.
The Mountain Pointe High School and Phoenix College product's voice was alarming enough for his mother to call his K-State position coach, Mo Latimore, asking if he would check in on her son.
Three days later, July 31, Latimore was back on the phone with Sharon, telling her that her son had been involved in an automobile accident and was dying.
Bates was returning to his apartment from what was called a light workout. An autopsy revealed that the muscular 20-year-old had passed out due to an undiagnosed Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), a thickening of the heart for no apparent reason.
Bates' heart weight was 680 grams, or more than three times the size of a normal heart. Bates fell victim to the same disease that claimed the lives of basketball players Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis.
"I guess how I look at it is the Lord felt Anthony had to have a big heart to handle all the goodness he demonstrated," said Snyder.
He added, "Regardless of your faith, you have to ask why? But some people put more life into 20 years
than others do in 80 years. It told his mother, there was enough affection and passion in their relationship
to last a lifetime."
But Snyder added, "That one hit us a little differently. We had 20-year-olds all around who knew it could have been them. It was a time when all of us rallied around the Bates family."
A service was help for Bates on August 5 at the All Faith's Chapel.
At the ceremony, teammate Jonathan McGraw played a violin solo.
"Having faith in God, and knowing Anthony, I know things are under control," McGraw said. "It shows you how fragile and temporary life is, but knowing Anthony, he's in heaven. For me that makes it a easier to handle."
Bates was an active kid who had played football since he was 9, as well as many other sport involving a ball.
Each year he would go through a standard sports physical. When he had surgery on his finger in his senior year of high school, an EKG was performed, but no hint of HCM was found. Sharon Bates would learn that HCM is a genetic heart disease that forms in the heart muscle, typically during adolescence. The surest way to detect the disease is through an echocardiogram of the heart.
Soon after her son's death, Sharon Bates founded the Anthony Bates Foundation in an effort to promote heart health and education through fund raisers and events.
"I needed to heal," Mrs. Bates said, "This was a very unfair thing for a parent to go through, and I want to prevent it from happening to others."
She promoted free cardiac screening events in Kansas, Arizona, and Nevada, targeting young student-athletes aged 14 and older.
She says of her mission, "With education there is power, with power comes life."

"She has attacked this mission with as much persistence as I ever have put into the game of football," said Snyder.

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Give a Gift of Life

1/18/2018

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"Give a Gift of Life" by supporting the Anthony Bates Foundation Youth Cardiac Screening program. HCM crosses ALL age groups, ethnicities and genders. Young athletes represent only 15% of fatalities caused by HCM. It is the added physical exertion of the heart during exercise and the cool down phase of the heart that will cause a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA).

The Anthony Bates Foundation (ABF) believes that no parent should suffer the heartbreak of losing a child to an undiagnosed cardiac malady; we seek to eliminate preventable Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). The organization will fulfill its mission by continuing our efforts to establish a nationwide heart screening program for youth, free of charge or low cost, thus solving a significant public health issue through screenings, education, collaboration and facilitation.

Our program to screen youth 12 years and up is done through the generosity of donations from people like you. You can be a hero by making a donation today!

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An Unexpected Danger

1/18/2018

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Sharon Bates is using her son’s sudden death from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 2000 to help other young adults.
She does that by organizing free public cardiac screenings, six of which have been held in Arizona, where anybody can get checked for heart problems.

Anthony Bates was 20 years old when he died from undiagnosed HCM.   A graduate of Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix, he was a member of the Kansas State University football team.

“He had been a member of the team for a year and a half and was going to start next year,” his mom said.

Anthony was in the weight room at school on the morning of his death. On his way home, he passed out behind the wheel. “Paramedics took him to the hospital, but he died,” Sharon Bates said. “That’s the problem with this. The only warning sign Anthony had was sudden death.”
            Bates said parents need to know that their children, even non-athletes, should be routinely checked and that they should be aggressive in getting treatment if their child is diagnosed with HCM, a congenital enlargement of the heart.
            “Be the advocate of your child’s health care,” she said.
The diseaseHCM is a genetic heart disease that forms in the heart muscle, usually in the teen years of life, according to Sharon’s Web site, anthonybates.org.

Although there is no cure, a person diagnosed with HCMA can live a normal life with proper treatment. Bates said 5,000 to 7,000 kids die of HCM every year. It is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes.
The screeningsBates organized heart screenings in her son’s memory as a way to promote awareness of the disease and encourage parents to watch their teens for warning signs.
She has had support from cardiac physicians, heart screeners and nurses in offering screenings.
Reservations for the screenings aren’t required. They include echocardiograms and EKG tests, if necessary. Participants also must fill out a medical history form.
Five of the more than 170 people screened at an event this fall in Peoria were found to have heart abnormalities, Bates said. Abnormalities are usually found in six to 10 percent of the people who attend the screenings. She tells everyone with a newly detected abnormality to seek medical advice.
“It’s not a disappointment that we didn’t find more people,” she said. “But it’s exciting that we found some and can start leading them toward the path of educating themselves and taking care of their heart.”
The benefits

Rick Johnson, athletic director for the Peoria Unified School District, said he will encourage coaches to take their athletes to the Peoria presentation Jan. 22. He said too many young adults feel immortal but may have an undetected threat to their life. He also said teachers and staff should take advantage of the screenings.

“This is what makes them aware that they need to seek medical advice and maybe prolong their life,” he said.
What to look forThe American Heart Association recommends that young athletes have heart screenings every two years. Here are some warning signs of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Shortness of breath
Chest pains
Dizziness/blackouts.
Heart palpitations (racing heart).

By: Louie Villalobos
The Arizona Republic

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Anthony Bates BLOG

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Reconnecting to Save Lives!

Can the new Apple Watch save your life?

Bill Snyder - "They Said It Couldn't Be Done..."

Give a Gift of Life

An Unexpected Danger

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